Thesis
“I Felt if Things Didn’t Change, the World Would Come to an End”: Black Iowa Women’s Activism During the Civil Rights Era, 1945-1965
University of Iowa
Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of Iowa
Autumn 2021
Abstract
Working to challenge the myths that the civil rights movement was located almost exclusively in the South and that it mainly involved men, this thesis examines Black Iowa women’s activism during the civil rights era (which I define as 1945-1965) and how their activist work and the arguments they made were influenced by their gender, class, and Midwestern identity.
Although Iowa had a smaller population of African Americans than did states in the South, and racial segregation was technically illegal in the state by the mid-twentieth century, African Americans still experienced significant discrimination in things such as housing and employment. In response, Black Iowa women were active in civil rights organizations, doing the grassroots work of organizing boycotts and pickets, fundraising, distributing information, and more, that made the movement sustainable. They also pursued litigation to safeguard their rights, and lobbied government officials to enforce existing civil rights legislation and pass new legislation promoting equal rights.
By reinserting African American women and the Midwest into our narratives of the civil rights movement, we can gain a fuller understanding of the era, give credit where credit is due, and gain greater insight into issues related to race and inequality that we are still facing today. Moreover, by studying the activism of Black Iowa women of previous generations, we are able to gain a greater appreciation of their heroic work to make Iowa a better place in the past, and hopefully learn from them as we continue to make a more just Iowa.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- “I Felt if Things Didn’t Change, the World Would Come to an End”: Black Iowa Women’s Activism During the Civil Rights Era, 1945-1965
- Creators
- Emily Bronswick
- Contributors
- Alyssa Park (Advisor) - University of Iowa, HistorySimon Balto (Mentor) - University of Iowa, History
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Project Type
- Honors Thesis
- Degree Awarded
- Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- History
- Date degree season
- Autumn 2021
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- 51 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2021 Emily Bronswick
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Honors Program; CLAS Honors Theses
- Record Identifier
- 9984200942002771
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